Telstra Corporation Ltd said it should be fined a sum of about $4 million, instead of the $40 million penalty sought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for alleged breaches of the company's competitive obligations under federal law.

The telco giant said it should be fined a sum of about $4 million for not giving competitors access to its telephone exchanges, citing inappropriate handling by junior staff.

''The contraventions were not deliberately anti-competitive and did not involve any of Telstra's senior management,'' said Telstra's lawyers.

Earlier this week, the ACCC announced it is pushing for at least $1 million penalty to be imposed on Telstra each time the telecommunications company refuses to give a competitor access to its telephone exchanges.

ACCC alleged that Telstra has wrongly rejected 27 applications from competitors who wanted to install ADSL 2+ broadband equipment in Telstra exchanges, even though there was space for the equipment.

Telstra admitted denying access to competitors at seven exchanges even though there was space to accommodate them. However, the company said its contraventions were not deliberately anti-competitive but the result of poor supervision of Telstra wholesale staff.

Under the Telecommunications Act and Trade Practices Act, the regulator could impose fines of up to $10 million for each of the alleged 27 contraventions.

A hearing presided by Justice John Middleton is ongoing in the Federal Court in Melbourne to decide whether Telstra should be fined.

Telstra said that it had since improved staff training and the processes of assessing telephone exchanges.